MONTREAL - Last week, the terrific little restaurant Mas Cuisine served its last meal. Not only was Mas a true blue chef-driven restaurant (its chef-owner, Michel Ross, did most of the cooking during every service), it really was one of the first restaurants to put Verdun on the foodie map. For 4½ years, Ross and his wife, Sandra Auger, served locals and newcomers alike, while the scene around them began to blossom. Some have come and others have gone, two faves right now being Wellington and Blackstrap BBQ, but the one that really turns my crank is the Turkish restaurant Su. Not only is it serving upscale Mediterranean food too rarely seen on our dining scene, but it is owned and operated by one sharp chef, Fisun Ercan.

Born in Izmir, Turkey, Ercan grew up on a farm, where her parents grew mandarins and olives. After studying cooking at LaSalle College, Ercan opened her restaurant in 2005. She called it Su, meaning water in Turkish. It also happens to be her daughter’s name.

Now, I cannot deny I really only began to hear about Su quite recently. There’s a nice little buzz about the place in chef circles, and as Ercan published a book, Su: La Cuisine turque de Fisun Ercan (Trécarré, 2011), she had also been making the rounds of Québécois food/living/cooking/book-plugging shows. As there are no Turkish restaurants on the fine-dining beat, my exposure to this cuisine had been close to nil. Yet I am always eager to add any of the so-called “ethnic” cuisines to my list.

It never ceases to amaze me that the word “ethnic” in the restaurant world represent cuisines outside of American or European cannon. No doubt Turkish falls into that category, which though incredibly large, is so incredibly misrepresented on the upscale dining scene, something that always hits me as incredibly silly as I’m always pleased to be eating something other than the same Old Montreal bistro fare.

Turkey also produces both potent red and crisp white wines, the ideal match for this lush cuisine. With this sudden summery blast of weather we’ve been having (did spring show its face at all this year?), I figured a little Turkish feast would hit the spot.

Su’s dining room is simple but pretty, with bright blue and white furniture and a bar at the back of the room that can seat another 10 diners. There’s a welcome Mediterranean feel to the space, which is thankfully devoid of fishing nets, an excess of ceramic urns or paintings of shepherds on hilly vistas.

The menu is divided into four sections: mezes, soups and salads, main courses, and desserts. Dishes are immensely appealing, so I’d recommend the shared meze platter, which can be assembled for two or more.

With a bottle of refreshing chardonnay and sauvignon blanc blend, Vinkara Quattro Beyaz 2011 (Turkish and organic, to boot), we delved into five different meze, including “kirmizi biberli ezme” a spread made up of grilled red peppers, walnuts and mint, cigarillo-sized rolls filled with herb-enhanced white cheese, vegetable fritters served with a dill-laden yogurt sauce, stuffed vine leaves, and radicchio leaves filled with cubes of marinated eggplant and more yogurt sauce.

Every bite was fantastic, with extra marks for the super crisp “sigaraboregi” (the cheese rolls), the earthy red pepper spread, and the grease-free fritters. Nothing was too spicy, but the cool flavours combined with all the diverse textures were good fun.

Next up, a house classic, “manti.” Described on the menu as Turkish ravioli, the dish consists of a thin pasta sheet wrapped around ground beef and served in a pool of yogurt sauce enriched with a spicy tomato sauce.

I loved the silky pasta and the contrast between the spicy sauce and rich yogurt. I’m told this is one of Ercan’s signature dishes, and I see why.

Main courses that followed maintained the sense of adventure provided thus far.

Halibut was the fish of the night, and here it was rolled into three rounds, placed upon a bed of cold lentils with red peppers, and topped with a spicy mayonnaise-like sauce and fried onions. Very nice.

I also relished every bite of a dish of rock cornish game hen that, according to the menu, hails from a recipe from the Ottoman palace that includes the grilled half chicken with an “aphrodisiac” sauce made with dried fruit, grilled red peppers, toasted almonds and chickpeas. I liked everything here, but most especially the deliciously juicy oven-roasted tomatoes piled overtop the succulent bird.

The last main was a slight letdown in that it starred grilled leg-of-lamb kebab marinated in spices served in a homemade pita. Sauces include garlic-infused yogurt and more of that spicy tomato sauce. As great as this dish tasted, the meat was cooked beyond the preferable medium-rare. The sauces made up for the dryness of the meat, but I can only imagine how much better this would have been had the meat been pink and juicy.

With so much already under our belts, dessert seemed excessive. Yet I would highly recommend the ones we tried, including a chocolate and halvah molten cake with mandarin ice cream (gorgeous!) and kunefe, a galette made of kadaif (shredded phyllo dough) with mozzarella, vanilla sugar syrup, chopped pistachios and a few blueberries. What a bore of me to toss around the word “texture” endlessly regarding this food, but there’s no avoiding it in this dessert, which has the most wicked smooth to crunchy contrast. If I could, I’d eat kunefe every day, for breakfast, dessert, afternoon coffee, midnight snack …

If I could, I’d also make Su a regular stop on my dining circuit. Fascinating food aside, I also admired the service staff for their smarts and enthusiasm. The wine list is also well chosen and interesting, with a serious selection of Turkish wines and many more well-priced private imports.

To end this review, a bit of news: Chef Ercan will soon be opening a second restaurant, a Turkish meze place featuring shared small plates on bar counters, in partnership with restaurateur Edward Zaki at the old Salute space on Laurier Ave.

Until then, I encourage you to head to Verdun to sample some of Ercan’s fabulous fare. She can hold her head high in Verdun’s burgeoning foodie scene. And I have a sneaking suspicion Mile End’s restaurant row will benefit greatly from her sunny cuisine, too.